Former Siemens Chief Medical Officer Donald Rucker, MD, has been named the new national coordinator at the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT. News organizations reported the appointment Friday, when he was found listed as the national coordinator in the Department of Health and Human Services directory,
Fierce Healthcare reports. Jon White, MD, who was serving as acting national coordinator, will return to his position as deputy national coordinator. (
Fierce Healthcare)
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The Trump administration’s proposal to dissolve the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality as a freestanding agency and incorporate it into the National Institutes of Health may not be as bad as some think, writes Andrew Bindman, former AHRQ director. He points out that the NIH has substantial bipartisan support, perhaps making AHRQ more secure. A reorganization
could represent a new beginning--and an opportunity to “connect NIH’s traditional role in discovery with AHRQ’s expertise in translating research into improvements in health care safety and value.” (
Health Affairs)
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Senior House Republicans say they expect the federal government to continue paying billions in subsidies to health insurance companies to keep low-income people covered under the Affordable Care Act. The payments could be for the rest of this year--and perhaps for 2018 as well. They reimburse insurers for subsidies that lower the cost of deductibles, copayments and coinsurance for those covered by the health law--but have been a long-time target of congressional Republicans. (
The New York Times)
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Health and Human Services Sec. Tom Price now must administer the Affordable Care Act, a law he fiercely opposes, but don’t expect him to undermine it,
The Hill reports. In February, he wrote a letter to governors
saying one of the administration’s top priorities is “bringing stability” to health insurance markets. Tom Scully, a former CMS administrator, says he expects Price to move the system in a conservative direction, but he
doesn’t expect him to destabilize or sabotage it. (
The Hill)
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Innovation & Transformation
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An analysis of four private-sector ACOs published in the American Journal of Managed Care finds that providers perceive accountable care as a strategy that allows them to “respond to policy changes anticipated to impact the way healthcare is delivered and reimbursed.” Consumers, in contrast, were largely unaware of--and that they were part of--ACOs. Among the other findings: Physician engagement and strong organizational leadership to shift culture from a volume focus to a value focus are crucial to ACO development, as is an adequate IT infrastructure that allows timely access to meaningful data. (AJMC)
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Hospice use among Medicare-eligible patients totaled about 2.55 percent in 2015, down from 2.59 percent in 2014 and 2.67 percent in 2013, according to a new analysis from Healthcare Market Resources. Eleven states showed hospice utilization declines greater than 5 percent during that period. Healthcare Market Resources predicts hospice use will fall even more in 2017 due to heightened regulatory pressure and a new payment system that disincentivizes long-term patients. (
Home Health Care News)
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Household food insecurity was inversely associated with various behaviors and clinical measures--such as BMI, diet and blood pressure--that define ideal cardiovascular health, researchers reported in
JAMA Internal Medicine. Food-insecure U.S. adults were less likely to meet at least three of seven health metrics, compared to those who were food secure. The study included almost 8,000 people and showed 57.7 percent were food secure, 15.1 percent were marginally food secure and 27.2 percent were food insecure. (
MedPage Today;
JAMA Internal Medicine)
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A new study adds to the evidence linking loneliness to health problems. According to research published in
Health Psychology, among those who became ill after exposure to a cold virus, those who were lonely were more likely to report severe runny nose, sore throat and other symptoms. That adds to the evidence linking loneliness to more serious health problems including heart disease and early death. (
NPR;
Health Psychology)
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The Trump administration appears to be taking a “good cop, bad cop” approach to drug policy. The new commission on opioids headed by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie focuses on treatment and rehabilitation. This stands in stark contrast to the aggressive prosecution of drug crimes promised by Attorney General Jeff Sessions. (
The Wall Street Journal)
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MACRA tool: The American College of Physicians has launched a new tool to help members prepare for the Quality Payment Program under the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act. The
Quality Payment Advisor is a web-based tool that will assess practice readiness and assist practices in determining the best path to take--Merit-Based Incentive Payment System or advanced Alternative Payment Model. (
ACP)
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Visas and medical residency: Some of the 3,814 non-U.S. citizens who graduated from foreign medical schools and were matched to residencies in the United States may not be able to start work on time. A program that allowed employers to fast-track H-1B visa applications was suspended as of Monday. Hospitals had been scrambling since Match Day, March 17, to submit the applications. (
Stat)
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The death rate for a broad sector of the U.S. white adult population continues to rise at a “startling” rate. In 2015 a landmark paper showed mortality was rising for white middle-aged Americans after decades of decline. Now, new research from the same authors, released by the Brookings Institution, offers an even grimmer view. (
The Wall Street Journal)
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MarketVoices...quotes worth reading
“The coupling of a potential re-organization of AHRQ within the NIH with a proposal for a major budget cut to the NIH should raise significant warning flags for the health services and primary care research communities. It is critical that stakeholders for these communities make clear to Congress the conditions necessary to ensure that such a re-organization could be the foundation for progress--and not the basis for making up for a shortfall in other NIH funding priorities.”--Andrew Bindman, former AHRQ director, writing in Health Affairs
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Copyright 2009-2017,
H2R Minutes
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